New Mac Pro in the works!!!

[mhschmieder]

Thanks, HC. I finished taxes at 2am and am getting a huge amount back, after an initial scare that I owed the state over $2200 (their website sucks, but I eventually found a proper tax rate calculator that showed me getting back almost $1000 instead!).

A friend looked over the specs and said he didn't think the upgrade would be worth bothering with vs. waiting for the next MacPro, as it seems I'd have to add TWO processors of either of the types listed in order to get a performance benefit over my current single processor setup.

[Rick Cornish]

Good news, indeed. My late-2013 6-core MP has been plenty fast running DP9. I recently upgraded to 64gB of RAM to improve performance when running MediaComposer (I often end up rough-cutting documentary-style videos where there may be 50 hours or more of raw footage before turning the project over to a real editor for finishing). So, in short, I'm happy—for now.... though I'm always looking for "what's next."

What is most curious about this announcement (to me) is Apple's willingness to break with a long-standing practice of NOT commenting on products under development. It seems to indicate they were worried enough about losing the pro market before they could get the next gen Mac Pro out the door that they would break with tradition (part of Apple's core culture). This was not done lightly and had to have been approved at the highest level. Might this indicate the pro market is more important to Apple than their actions over the past couple years have led us to believe? Time will tell.

[HCMarkus]

Thanks, HC. I finished taxes at 2am and am getting a huge amount back, after an initial scare that I owed the state over $2200 (their website sucks, but I eventually found a proper tax rate calculator that showed me getting back almost $1000 instead!).

A friend looked over the specs and said he didn't think the upgrade would be worth bothering with vs. waiting for the next MacPro, as it seems I'd have to add TWO processors of either of the types listed in order to get a performance benefit over my current single processor setup.

Happy tax news!

As for the upgrade, your friend is, in my opinion and experience, flat-out wrong. Performance with DP will approach double if you upgrade to hex 3.33GHz for three reasons:

1. Clock Speed from 2.66 to 3.33 (snappier for all tasks, single and multi-threaded) - 22% increase
2. 4 cores to 6 - 50% increase. Combined with clock speed, up to 82% faster, dependent on how efficient software is at multi-threading.
3. Processor Architecture improvement - next gen Westmere CPU - hard to quantify, but tangible

A CPU upgrade will also allow your MP to run 1333 RAM for a nominal speed bump. Much RAM sold as 1066 is actually 1333. (Board Mod James Steele an I were both pleasantly surprised to find our RAM was actually 1333 capable.) It is my understanding 5,1 Mac Pros shipped with 1333 RAM even when paired with a Nehalem (1066 only) processor. As shipped, the RAM runs at 1066 because of the CPU. However, if you upgrade to a 1333-capable CPU, your RAM will run at 1333 after an NVRAM reset.

For $100 and 30 minutes, the CPU upgrade is simply a no-brainer!

[dix]

+1 for the hex-core.

None of us who've done the upgrade have regretted it. Apple says it won't be until after this year that we see the redesigned MPs. To me that reads as 2 years. I'm betting you'll get a lot of milage out of an upgrade before they're announced. ...plus, do you really want to buy the very first nnMPs that ship?

[mhschmieder]

But is it one chip or two? This is the most confusing point for me, when looking at OEM stuff, used, refurbs, etc. I can never figure out whether I'm getting half of what I need, or the whole shebang.

I spent a LOT of money to get up to 16 GB of RAM a while back, so hopefully the RAM that I bought, and which replaced the installed RAM from Apple, is compatible. I bought it from OWC (their brand).

DIMM 1:

Size: 8 GB
Type: DDR3 ECC
Speed: 1066 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x857F
Part Number: 0x463732314755363746393333334700000000
Serial Number: -

DIMM 2:

Size: 8 GB
Type: DDR3 ECC
Speed: 1066 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x857F
Part Number: 0x463732314755363746393333334700000000
Serial Number: -

[Rick Cornish]

I've always had good luck with OWC RAM. The IT guy who used to take care of 30 Macs at my old company swore by it.

[HCMarkus]

But is it one chip or two? This is the most confusing point for me, when looking at OEM stuff, used, refurbs, etc. I can never figure out whether I'm getting half of what I need, or the whole shebang.

I spent a LOT of money to get up to 16 GB of RAM a while back, so hopefully the RAM that I bought, and which replaced the installed RAM from Apple, is compatible. I bought it from OWC (their brand).

I suspect your RAM is 1333 labeled as 1066, but no assurance can be offered. That said, your RAM will work with a new CPU regardless of whether it is 1066 or 1333. After installing the CPU and an NVRM reset, you can check RAM speed in "About this Mac" to see the operating speed of the RAM. The difference in performance is reportedly 1-3% in overall system speed.

If your question concerns number of CPU chips you need...

If your MP has one heatsink (silver box on CPU/RAM daughterboard and slots for up to four RAM sticks) it is, as stated in your signature, a quad core model that uses a single CPU. Buy one of these 3.33 GHz CPUs for you preferred Ebay vendor:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-X568 ... SwsW9Y1XWN
(I'd offer $75 and see what happens)

OR one of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SLBV2-INTEL-XEO ... SwdGFY4o7s
(I'd offer $65)

Either a X5680 or W3680 will work in single-CPU Mac Pros. 3.46GHz X5690 or W5690 will also work, but you'll pay a premium of $50 or more for 4% more speed with the 90s.

Whatever, you choose, install and enjoy.

• If worried about doing the swap, find a friend who builds PCs and ask for his or her assistance.
  The classic Mac Pro is such a brilliant design, it is a pleasure to work on.
  If it turns out you actually have a Dual CPU 2010, you must use the X series CPUs.

[mikehalloran]

What is most curious about this announcement (to me) is Apple's willingness to break with a long-standing practice of NOT commenting on products under development. It seems to indicate they were worried enough about losing the pro market before they could get the next gen Mac Pro out the door that they would break with tradition (part of Apple's core culture). This was not done lightly and had to have been approved at the highest level. Might this indicate the pro market is more important to Apple than their actions over the past couple years have led us to believe? Time will tell.

You are forgetting something: This has happened before. In 2012, Tim Cook announced that the pro market had not been forgotten and that a new Mac Pro was in the works. At the same time, Apple announced minor performance enhancements for the current MP line.

I'm too busy to look up that announcement but I'm sure it's still online somewhere.

your RAM will work with a new CPU regardless of whether it is 1066 or 1333.

Yep. That is determined by controllers on the motherboard, not the CPU. When a next gen of RAM is backwards compatible, it becomes the only version available. Resellers sometime use two different labels for awhile but most, like OWC, ship the currently available version. It makes no difference to your Mac what is used as long as it's compatible.

[mhschmieder]

Thanks, HC. So surprising that this information is so hard to find at OWC, Apple, or other places!

[mikehalloran]

Thanks, HC. So surprising that this information is so hard to find at OWC, Apple, or other places!

Everymac tells you exactly which model came with what RAM

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/m ... acpro.html

You can drill down though About This Mac to find the minimum RAM speed for your system. It will not tell you if the installed RAM is capable of going faster.

[Rick Cornish]

You are forgetting something: This has happened before. In 2012, Tim Cook announced that the pro market had not been forgotten and that a new Mac Pro was in the works. At the same time, Apple announced minor performance enhancements for the current MP line.

I'm too busy to look up that announcement but I'm sure it's still online somewhere.

I stand corrected, sir.

[frankf]

I would wait if you can. Not having the upgrade path for the internal drive is scary. If it goes south, I'm screwed unless i can boot from an external - which would suck, IMO. Not the end of the world but with only 1TB in my internal SSD, I have to off load stuff every so often and that is a PITA.

Michael, OWC has 1-4TB replacement drives for the MP cylinders. Pricey, but they do exist. They also sell a TB2 Dock which you can use to pull more USB3 bandwidth from TB2 as the Trash can internal USB3 buss is limited even though there are several USB3 ports.

DP9 is running great here on our 6,1 Mac and I'm not seeing the need for the upcoming model. If OP can find a 12 core refurb 6,1 loaded, eligible for Apple Care, it would be a great DP machine for composers using VIs (the 12 core is ideal for this) for a little over $4k. Even lower prices as James mentioned in this thread when the next model is released.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Thank you, Frank. When I bought the can I got the biggest drive Melrose Mac could install at the time (1TB). I've been watching OWC for a price drop for a few years now but it's not happening. I think I could boot externally if I had to and hope that never becomes a necessity.

If the new version is more modular I'd consider upgrading. I love the speed, quiet, and cooler temperatures, and the footprint can't be beat. I do miss the connectivity being built in, FW (because I have so much FW stuff) and PCI expandability I have in the 8-core cheese grater now in storage. It's a 3,1 2008 MP and the last of the older machines that can use Sierra.

Warm comfort. Very warm!

[bayswater]

Everymac tells you exactly which model came with what RAM

Or Mactracker which gives details on all Apple products. For RAM, it tells you the original spec, and the actual amount the model can take.

[mikehalloran]

...I think I could boot externally if I had to and hope that never becomes a necessity. ...

I did that for a year before screwing up the courage to open my iMac and replace my HHD. In your case, USB 3 would be the slowest and TB would be faster—SATA on the external SSD is the bottleneck. Neither would be as responsive as the PCIe internal but it would get you through.